Simulgel EG test

Hello Everyone!

Today I made few tests to try and get an idea of Simulgel EG. 

Its INCI is: Sodium Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer/Isohexadecane/Polysorbate 80
and it is a liquid emulsifier.

This ingredient can be used:
– as a thickener: I haven’t tested this yet, but if you want to use it as a thickener you are supposed to add it after emulsification (it can bear up to 75° C) and mix as usual. The suggested concentration of use in this case is: 0.5%-2%
– as a sole emulsifier: in this case it can be added both to the water phase or the oily phase but Phase B seems to be the best option as the polymer is lipodispersible and therefore inversion and swelling are facilitated. The suggested concentration of use as a sole emulsifier is: 1%-5%.

Simulgel EG is supposed to be able to hold up to 40% oils in the formula and another great feature is that it can hold up very well silicone-based powders (this is something I will have to test very soon!!!). 😀
It can emulsify all oil phases (so no problems with natural oils or esters) and its ideal pH range is pH 5.5 – pH 11.

In my tests I have tried this ingredient at the concentration of 3% simply changing the oil concentration in the formula: 5%, 10% and 20%.
It is a liquid Cold Process Emulsifier: this means that it can emulsify at room temperature, and this is exactly what I have done: I have added it to the Phase B, I have stirred a little with a spatula, I have poured the Phase A into the Phase B (the opposite of what we usually do) and eventually I have mixed with the immersion mixer! 😉
Here are some pictures:

It was extremely easy to use, which is always a lovely lovely thing! 🙂
The viscosity was good in all three of the emulsions.
All the emulsions had a gel-like texture which was pleasant but the 5% emulsion had the most gel-feel of all (a little plastic-like), however all the emulsions didn’t quite have the “fresh” feel I was expecting from their look: in all cases the cream felt quite heavy/greasy, even the 5% (it is also due to the fact that I didn’t formulate a real Phase B, I simply used one oil).
I think 3% is a good medium percentage of use but I intend to try other concentrations in the future, specially in case of low % of oils in the formula!

Now to the sad part: as cool as this ingredient is, it does state in the technical sheet that its thickening capacity is affected if there are too many electrolytes (usually most of the active ingredients I use are electrolytes: salts, acids, proteins…). In this case it is suggested to add either gums (guar, xanthan…) or other polymers (vinyl polymers for example).
Since the three tests were going to be wasted anyway, I just made a simple test by adding 1 gram of Sodium Lactate solution in the 10% oils emulsion (so the concentration was a little less than 1%) simply to see how much the viscosity of the emulsion would have suffered. Here you go 😀

Yes, it totally liquified! 😀
So I guess that if you intend to formulate with Simulgel EG and at the same time you want to add some electrolytes, you definitely have to add some gums (separate the water in two parts: gel one with gums, emulsify the other and eventually mix together: this should be better than emulsifying with already gelled water).

I am definitely going to play with this ingredient some more, but this is all for today! 🙂
Have you tried this ingredient already?

I’ll be back soon 😉